Columbia Crew Sets Record for Longest Shuttle Flight : Space: One astronaut compares time in orbit to ‘an extended camp-out.’ Landing is scheduled for Wednesday in California.

The space shuttle Columbia and its crew set a record for the longest shuttle flight Monday on the 11th day of a research mission.

Astronaut Carl Meade compared the flight to “an extended camp-out trip” and said he can’t wait to take a shower when he gets back to Earth on Wednesday.

Columbia swept past the previous shuttle endurance record--10 days, 21 hours and one minute, set by the same spacecraft in 1990--at 6:14 a.m. PDT. Its trip began at midday June 25.

That still pales in comparison with other space programs, including NASA’s Skylab and the Russian Mir space station, where one crew spent a year in orbit.

Mission Control congratulated the five men and two women aboard Columbia by playing the 1960s tune “Stay,” which pleads: “Oh, won’t you stay just a little bit longer?”

Shuttle commander Richard N. Richards thanked ground controllers and said he and pilot Kenneth Bowersox celebrated by doing the twist--”about the only thing you can do without going out of control up here.”

The crew missed out on another shuttle first. Richards tried unsuccessfully to contact the two cosmonauts aboard Russia’s Mir by ham radio as the craft flew over South America. Columbia passed 71 miles below Mir at the closest approach.

Columbia is scheduled to land at 6:08 a.m. PDT Wednesday at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Crewman Lawrence DeLucas, especially pleased with his crystal-growing efforts Monday, asked ground controllers if he could stay up an extra week. He suggested “some kind of pod you can release from the shuttle, then come get me.”

“You can crawl in one of the racks or something and we can jettison it out there and let you orbit for a little while longer,” Payload Control’s Alan Johnston replied, laughing.

The astronauts shared their thoughts on extended space travel with CBS’ “This Morning” news anchor Connie Chung.

“The physical aspect of this is not very demanding at all,” Meade said in the live space-to-Earth interview. “Actually, it’s the mental that I think challenges most of the people. This is rather like an extended camp-out trip, if you know what I mean. So it’s not really that bad.”

Meade didn’t hesitate when Chung asked what he would choose first after landing: a hot shower, a cold drink or a home-cooked meal.

“The shower, for sure,” Meade replied.

There is no shower, tub or even sink aboard the shuttle, and astronauts must take sponge baths and use spray soap to wash their hair. There are two options for sponge baths: wet wipes or towels moistened with hot or cold water from the galley water nozzle.

Still, the shuttle is downright luxurious compared to the one-man Mercury, two-man Gemini and three-man Apollo spaceships.

Skylab, the roomiest manned spacecraft flown by NASA, has the record for the longest U.S. spaceflight, an 84-day mission in 1973-74. The world record is held by two Russian cosmonauts who spent 366 days in 1987-88 aboard Mir, a little more spacious than Skylab.